1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data-processing. More particularly, the invention relates to configuring browser settings.
2. Background of the Related Art
Computer networks were developed to allow multiple computers to communicate with each other. In general, a network can include a combination of hardware and software that cooperate to facilitate the desired communications. One example of a computer network is the Internet, a sophisticated worldwide network of computer system resources.
Networks, such as the Internet, require a network browser to enable navigation between network addresses. A browser is an application program or facility that normally resides on a user's workstation and which is invoked when the user decides to access network addresses. A prior art Internet browser program typically accesses a given network address according to an addressing format known as a uniform resource locator (URL). The browser also processes each type of data which is presented to it, and forwards and receives data to and from the network. State-of-the-art browsers provide a complete multimedia experience, including video, pictures, 3-D images, sounds and the like.
In addition, browsers provide useful features that facilitate management of the voluminous information encountered by users while browsing. For example, most commercially available Internet browsers (e.g., Netscape's Navigator® and Windows' Explorer®) provide a history folder containing recently visited network addresses (e.g., web sites) and a bookmark folder to which a user can store network addresses for future retrieval.
In order to accommodate the particular preferences of multiple users, some aspects of browsers are customizable. For example, browsers often include one or more toolbars, e.g., personal toolbars which are configurable by the user. Other configurable features include the colors, fonts, display attributes and the like.
The user may configure different browser tool bars and settings to accomplish different tasks. For example, a user may configure a toolbar to display frequently used features such as a “print” button or “email” button and the like. Browsers may also be configured to allow the user to start with a particular default network address (i.e., homepage). These and other configurable settings and features are well known within browsing technology.
In some applications, it is necessary to reconfigure the browser settings numerous times within a given time interval (e.g., in a day). Consider the case where college students are using specific browser settings for a first period French class and different browser settings for a second period Algebra class. For example, the students of the Algebra class may prefer a homepage setting (e.g., www.algebra.com) related to Algebra while the French students prefer a homepage setting related to French (e.g., www.French.com). Because the application of the browser is substantially different, the browser must be manually configured for each class. Currently, the only method or system available to remedy this condition is for each student to manually reconfigure the browser for each class homepage. One option is to use an “options” disk containing user-specific configuration information. Another conventional solution is to cause reconfigurations to occur in response to login information.
However, such options are undesirable because of the possibility for errors in attempting to synchronize some or all of the browser settings and related information and the loss in productivity during the initial configuration process. Therefore, it is desirable to provide time-based browser configuration to suit a particular event environment in a convenient and configurable manner.